Stand Your Ground group wrapping up

Published: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 6:04 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 12, 2012 at 6:04 p.m.

The task force formed by Gov. Rick Scott to review Florida's “Stand Your Ground” law holds its last hearing Tuesday, with recommendations about possible changes, if any, to shortly follow.

Headed into that final session in Pensacola, opponents of the law continue to air concerns about what they see as the measure's unintended consequences and urge the Task Force on Citizens Safety and Protection to support an overhaul that addresses them.

Gov. Rick Scott formed the task force after the fatal shooting of Sanford resident Trayvon Martin in February. Martin was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who confronted the unarmed Martin after local police had encouraged him to back off and report his suspicions to them.

The Second Chance on Shoot First Campaign, a consortium of liberal-leaning groups representing more than 250,000 people nationwide, has called on its supporters in Florida to publicly express their opposition to the current law.

They intend to do so at the meeting site at Pensacola State College by offering public comment to the task force and discussing the law with reporters at the scene, said Chris Brown, spokesman for Second Chance.

Stand Your Ground, originally sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dennis Baxley of Ocala, passed in 2005.

Scholars credit it as the first in the country to make the so-called “castle doctrine” applicable anywhere outside the home, relieving people who claimed they felt threatened by violence of the duty to retreat and removing many of the criminal and civil sanctions for using deadly force.

Second Chance maintains that Florida's self-defense law, in paving the way for half the states to adopt similar measures, has facilitated a growth in violent crime instead of deterring it and has failed to enhance public safety.

“We're looking to raise awareness about how this law is dangerous,” said Ginny Simmons, executive director of the Washington-based group. “It's not doing what it was intended to do in the first place.”

Baxley disagrees.

He noted that the task force has found instances where “uniform application” within the judicial system appears to be an issue. But overall, the law has worked as proposed, he added.

“There is a general consensus that the general population is very encouraged by this statute,” Baxley said during an interview.

“This was not about gang-fighting, drug-trading or domestic disputes. It was about protecting the law-abiding citizen who is doing nothing wrong and who becomes a victim of a violent attack, and the overall violence and violent crime rates have gone down.”

Baxley said he has been heartened by accounts from people who were grateful for being empowered to fend off violent attacks.

He added that he doesn't expect the task force to suggest any major changes to the Stand Your Ground law, or that lawmakers would adopt any.

The problems with Stand Your Ground, as Second Chance sees it, were raised in part by a Texas A&M study from June.

The research indicated homicides were up in the more than 20 states with “shoot first” laws, as Second Chance refers to them.

The study's authors also noted that the potential of reducing crime under the castle doctrine was “quite large,” but the reality in those states was quite different.

Those statutes enabled as many as 600 additional deaths a year in those states, they asserted.

“Lowering the threshold for the justified use of lethal force results in more of it,” the authors wrote. “We find significant evidence that the laws lead to more homicides.”

Critics ripped the study for being alarmist by spotlighting the jump in justifiable homicides — a narrow and often ill-defined segment of crime reporting.

Second Chance also notes that New York City's analysis showed the number of justifiable homicides climbed dramatically following the enactment of the laws — including a spike of 192 percent in Florida.

The group also highlights a report by the Urban Institute that found when white shooters kill black victims 34 percent of the slayings are ruled justifiable, while only 3 percent are declared as such when the shooter is black and the victim is white.

Finally, Second Chance pointed to a Tampa Bay Times article in July that revealed nearly 60 percent of the people asserting the Stand Your Ground law as a defense in Florida had arrest records, with about one-third of that group having been previously apprehended for violent crimes.

In a letter to Gov. Scott last month, the Central Florida Urban League in Orlando argued that the law's “practical effects” had not met its stated purposes of reducing violent crime or protecting law-abiding citizens.

Among other changes, the organization encouraged Scott to consider reforms that would prevent Stand Your Ground from being used as a defense if the force was directed at someone who was already retreating, eliminate it as a shield for people who were committing a crime when they killed someone and close a loophole that allows an aggressor to assert self-defense under the law after fleeing once the victim has responded with violent force of his own.

Besides leading to additional crime, Simmons said Florida's law is still too open to interpretation by individual law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges — something, Baxley said during the initial debates on the law, crime victims would no longer fear once the legislation was in place.

“Ultimately, we'd like the law to be repealed, but in the spirit of compromise, we think there are a number of ways the law can be improved and clarified,” Simmons said.

<p>The task force formed by Gov. Rick Scott to review Florida's “Stand Your Ground” law holds its last hearing Tuesday, with recommendations about possible changes, if any, to shortly follow.</p><p>Headed into that final session in Pensacola, opponents of the law continue to air concerns about what they see as the measure's unintended consequences and urge the Task Force on Citizens Safety and Protection to support an overhaul that addresses them.</p><p>Gov. Rick Scott formed the task force after the fatal shooting of Sanford resident Trayvon Martin in February. Martin was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who confronted the unarmed Martin after local police had encouraged him to back off and report his suspicions to them.</p><p>The Second Chance on Shoot First Campaign, a consortium of liberal-leaning groups representing more than 250,000 people nationwide, has called on its supporters in Florida to publicly express their opposition to the current law.</p><p>They intend to do so at the meeting site at Pensacola State College by offering public comment to the task force and discussing the law with reporters at the scene, said Chris Brown, spokesman for Second Chance.</p><p>Stand Your Ground, originally sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dennis Baxley of Ocala, passed in 2005.</p><p>Scholars credit it as the first in the country to make the so-called “castle doctrine” applicable anywhere outside the home, relieving people who claimed they felt threatened by violence of the duty to retreat and removing many of the criminal and civil sanctions for using deadly force.</p><p>Second Chance maintains that Florida's self-defense law, in paving the way for half the states to adopt similar measures, has facilitated a growth in violent crime instead of deterring it and has failed to enhance public safety.</p><p>“We're looking to raise awareness about how this law is dangerous,” said Ginny Simmons, executive director of the Washington-based group. “It's not doing what it was intended to do in the first place.”</p><p>Baxley disagrees.</p><p>He noted that the task force has found instances where “uniform application” within the judicial system appears to be an issue. But overall, the law has worked as proposed, he added.</p><p>“There is a general consensus that the general population is very encouraged by this statute,” Baxley said during an interview.</p><p>“This was not about gang-fighting, drug-trading or domestic disputes. It was about protecting the law-abiding citizen who is doing nothing wrong and who becomes a victim of a violent attack, and the overall violence and violent crime rates have gone down.”</p><p>Baxley said he has been heartened by accounts from people who were grateful for being empowered to fend off violent attacks.</p><p>He added that he doesn't expect the task force to suggest any major changes to the Stand Your Ground law, or that lawmakers would adopt any.</p><p>The problems with Stand Your Ground, as Second Chance sees it, were raised in part by a Texas A&M study from June.</p><p>The research indicated homicides were up in the more than 20 states with “shoot first” laws, as Second Chance refers to them.</p><p>The study's authors also noted that the potential of reducing crime under the castle doctrine was “quite large,” but the reality in those states was quite different.</p><p>Those statutes enabled as many as 600 additional deaths a year in those states, they asserted.</p><p>“Lowering the threshold for the justified use of lethal force results in more of it,” the authors wrote. “We find significant evidence that the laws lead to more homicides.”</p><p>Critics ripped the study for being alarmist by spotlighting the jump in justifiable homicides — a narrow and often ill-defined segment of crime reporting.</p><p>Second Chance also notes that New York City's analysis showed the number of justifiable homicides climbed dramatically following the enactment of the laws — including a spike of 192 percent in Florida.</p><p>The group also highlights a report by the Urban Institute that found when white shooters kill black victims 34 percent of the slayings are ruled justifiable, while only 3 percent are declared as such when the shooter is black and the victim is white.</p><p>Finally, Second Chance pointed to a Tampa Bay Times article in July that revealed nearly 60 percent of the people asserting the Stand Your Ground law as a defense in Florida had arrest records, with about one-third of that group having been previously apprehended for violent crimes.</p><p>In a letter to Gov. Scott last month, the Central Florida Urban League in Orlando argued that the law's “practical effects” had not met its stated purposes of reducing violent crime or protecting law-abiding citizens.</p><p>Among other changes, the organization encouraged Scott to consider reforms that would prevent Stand Your Ground from being used as a defense if the force was directed at someone who was already retreating, eliminate it as a shield for people who were committing a crime when they killed someone and close a loophole that allows an aggressor to assert self-defense under the law after fleeing once the victim has responded with violent force of his own.</p><p>Besides leading to additional crime, Simmons said Florida's law is still too open to interpretation by individual law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges — something, Baxley said during the initial debates on the law, crime victims would no longer fear once the legislation was in place.</p><p>“Ultimately, we'd like the law to be repealed, but in the spirit of compromise, we think there are a number of ways the law can be improved and clarified,” Simmons said.</p><p><i>Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or at bill.thompson@starbanner.com</i></p>